Enbridge's Line 9 oil pipeline to displace foreign crude in Quebec

CALGARY, Alberta Oct 1 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc's
long-awaited start of its Line 9 oil pipeline to Montreal will
allow Quebec refineries to run on 100 percent cheap North
American inland crude, leaving around 100,000 barrels per day of
foreign crude searching for a new home.

The Calgary-based energy company received approval from
regulators on Wednesday to finally start operating the 300,000
bpd pipeline carrying mainly light crude from Sarnia, Ontario,
to Montreal, Quebec, nearly a year after it was first expected
in service.

Both will be able to switch to a diet of 100 percent West
Texas Intermediate-linked crude such as Canadian light synthetic
or North Dakota Bakken, displacing pricier Brent-linked
feedstock from regions including West Africa and the North Sea.

At present the refineries receive crude by rail, seaborne
imports into Quebec, and volumes from the Portland-Montreal
pipeline, which transports imported crude north.

Data from Statistics Canada show in July, the most recent
month available, Quebec imported 113,000 bpd of crude from
Azerbaijan, Algeria and Nigeria. Another 206,000 bpd came from
the United States and Canada.

Total foreign crude imports into the province from outside
North America vary from month-to month, according to the data,
but range around the 100,000 bpd mark.

Other countries that have exported to Quebec so far this
year include Norway, Russia, Angola and the United Kingdom.
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